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The American Fairytale of a Black Male Athlete

dc.contributor.authorGay, Samantha
dc.contributor.advisorPowers, Devon
dc.contributor.advisorDraper, Jimmy
dc.date.accessioned2023-10-31T18:24:42Z
dc.date.available2023-10-31T18:24:42Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/191197
dc.description.abstractUsing the ideology of Charles W. Mills’ 1997 The Racial Contract and examining the dualism of the American sports and entertainment industries, this thesis examines the different depictions assigned to Black male athletes in order to exploit, while concurrently demean their character. The study uses four hypothesized patterns to qualitatively analyze media examples pertaining to five professional Black male athletes of the National Basketball Association, Professional Golfer’s Association, Major League Baseball and National Football League. Together, disclosed themes and sub-themes display different characterizations of the Black male athlete as non-human and animalistic, as well as aspiring for whiteness and a symbol of American prosperity. The media examples hyper-fixate on the body and presence of the Black male athlete, however, dismiss the intellect, individuality, and labor of the figure. This study reveals how these characterizations, fixations, and their deprivations all work together to take advantage of Black male athletes while maintaining a racial hierarchy in society, reflecting that of The Racial Contract.
dc.subjectRace
dc.subjectSports
dc.subjectAthlete
dc.subjectBlack men
dc.subjectMedia
dc.subjectExploitation
dc.subjectStereotypes
dc.subjectCommercialization
dc.subjectSports Marketing
dc.titleThe American Fairytale of a Black Male Athlete
dc.typeThesis
dc.description.thesisdegreenameHonors
dc.description.thesisdegreedisciplineCommunication and Media
dc.description.thesisdegreegrantorUniversity of Michigan
dc.contributor.affiliationumcampusAnn Arbor
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/191197/1/samigay_-_Samantha_Gay.pdf
dc.identifier.doihttps://dx.doi.org/10.7302/21585
dc.working.doi10.7302/21585en
dc.owningcollnameHonors Theses (Bachelor's)


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